Ken Livingstone quizzed by budding politicians

Young politicians from Harrow Youth Parliament, including Stanmore’s Zak Wagman ,quizzed former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone last week at their Youth Democracy event, which focused on youth participation in politics.

Inspiring the youth of Harrow, Ken Livingstone spoke about the importance of youth participation in politics. Encouraging them to be more active and assert themselves in order to be heard by decision makers. The event was organised by Harrow Youth Parliament and supported by Harrow Council to give young people a platform to share their concerns and ideas with officers and councillors. The evening opened with speeches and a Q&A with Ken Livingstone where he was grilled about youth unemployment, voting crisis amongst young people, and making politics more interesting for young people. Mr Livingstone said: “If young people don’t take part in politics, they’ll carry on being let down by the establishment. Harrow Youth Parliament are doing a great job for the young people of Harrow. I think they should be doing this every night.” The evening ended with round table discussions and feedback on improving youth participation in politics. They also spoke of their concerns and what they thought was important for young people and politics. Cllr Keith Ferry, deputy leader of the council who also addressed the young politicians said: “I’d like to congratulate Harrow Youth Parliament for hosting a successful event which saw some truly interesting and passionate debates on various topics regarding youth politics. It’s important that the concerns of young people are heard and we fully support Harrow Youth Parliament in their efforts to encourage and engage young people in politics.”